(Walnut Ridge, Ark.) – Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe will tour the recently completed Guitar Walk at Cavenaugh Park Thursday in Walnut Ridge. The governor is scheduled to visit the tourist attraction Thursday at 5 p.m.
The Guitar Walk is 115 feet long and 40 feet wide, and it is lined with historical displays which pay tribute to nine rock music pioneers who performed in northeast Arkansas. An audio tour is also included at the site. The walk is made in the likeness of a Casino Epiphone electric guitar, a popular instrument with early rock ‘n’ roll performers.
Beebe is featured prominently at the entrance to the Guitar Walk. His recorded greeting welcomes visitors to the park, and the entrance display includes photos of the governor signing the act which established Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67.
“Gov. Beebe was instrumental in getting Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67 established, and he was gracious enough to record our greeting at the Guitar Walk. It is great to have him visit the sight and see it for himself,” said Charles Snapp with the Tourism Committee of the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67 designation commemorates rockabilly musicians such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and others who frequented venues along the route, especially in the mid 1950s. It runs through Jackson, Lawrence and Randolph Counties.
Guitar Walk at Cavenaugh Park, located south of Iron Mountain Depot on Front Street, was built to pay tribute to the musicians who performed along the highway. The park opened with a ribbon cutting Sept. 15, during the annual Beatles at the Ridge festival in downtown Walnut Ridge.
